Hades (15 page)

Church felt dead and buried. I knew I would carry the horror

of what I’d seen around with me forever.

We al started when we heard the soft buzz of a key card

and Jake let himself into the room. He was obviously so

sure of his authority that he hadn’t felt the need to knock

and was total y oblivious to having impinged on my privacy.

He seemed to believe round-the-clock access to me was

whol y within his rights. I saw Tucker stand up and linger

self-consciously, as if he should be making himself useful,

but Jake ignored him and marched over to where I lay,

regarding me careful y. Unlike Tucker, I made no attempt to

get up or even turn my head to face him.

“You look awful,” he observed. “I hate to say I told you so.”

“I don’t want to see you,” I said dul y.

“I thought you’d understand by now that there are far

worse things in this place than seeing me. Come on now,

you can’t blame me for what you’ve seen. I didn’t create this

place even though I may have some jurisdiction over it.”

“Do you enjoy inflicting pain and torture?” I asked in a

hol ow voice, looking up to meet his eyes. “Do you get off

on it?”

“Steady on,” Jake sounded offended. “I
personally
don’t

torture anyone. I have more important things to do.”

“But you know it’s happening,” I insisted. “And you do

nothing about it.”

Jake shared a bemused look with Tucker, who was

frowning at me as if he thought I were an idiot.

“And why on earth would I try to stop it?” he asked.

“Because they’re people,” I said weakly. It was always so

exhausting talking to Jake. It left me feeling as if I were

running in circles and getting nowhere.

“No, actual y they’re souls of people who were very bad in

life,” he explained patiently.

“Nobody deserves this—no matter what their crime.”

“Oh, real y?” Jake folded his arms. “Then you have no

idea what mankind is capable of. Besides, they al had the

choice to repent and they chose not to. That’s how the

system works.”

“Yeah, wel , your system stinks. It turns good people into

monsters.”

“And that,” Jake said, wagging a finger thoughtful y, “is

the difference between you and me. You insist on seeing

man as inherently noble even when al evidence suggests

otherwise. Humans—urghh!” Jake shuddered. “What’s

noble about them? They eat, they breed, they sleep, they

fight—they’re nothing but basic organisms. Look what

bil ions of them have done to the planet; their very existence

is pol uting the earth and you blame us for it. If humans are

God’s greatest achievement, he seriously needs to review

his design. Take Tucker, for instance. Why do you think I

keep him around? It’s to remind me of God’s fal ibility.”

Tucker’s face flushed crimson but Jake seemed not to

notice.

“People are much more than that,” I replied, partly to

cover up Tucker’s humiliation. “They can dream and hope

and love. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

“Those are usual y worse off because they’re so

delusional. Empty yourself of compassion, Bethany, it won’t

serve you wel here.”

“I’l die before I become like you,” I said.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” said Jake breezily. “You

can’t die here. Only the earth entertains such ridiculous

notions as life and death. Another one of your father’s little

quirks.”

I was spared the effort of chal enging Jake further when

we heard voices in the hal and a woman sailed into the

room with al the aplomb of a celebrity.

“This is supposed to be my room,” I muttered. “Why do

people think they can just barge in and …”

I stopped short when I gave the woman a closer look and

remembered her instantly as the tattooed barmaid from

Pride. It would have been hard to forget the annihilating

look she’d given me then. She gave me a fleeting glance

this time as if my presence were too immaterial to take up

any more of her time. She was riled. I could see that in the

fixed line of her mouth and the way she brusquely pushed

past Tucker.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” she chided Jake.

“I wondered how long it’d be before you’d show up,” Jake

said lazily. “You know you’re getting yourself a reputation as

a stalker.”

“Shame a bad reputation don’t mean jack here,” the

woman replied.

There was a derisive tone in the way he addressed her,

but she seemed only amused by it. “Beth, meet Asia, my …

very personal … personal assistant. She gets stressed if

she doesn’t know exactly where I am at any given time.”

I sat up to get a better look at her. Asia was tal and

striking like an Amazon. She was dressed provocatively in

a gold halter top and a leather miniskirt. Her jet-black hair

with the texture of spun wool surrounded her feline features.

Her lips were exaggeratedly ful , sticky with gloss, and

permanently parted. The way she stood with her shoulders

thrust back reminded me of a boxer, and her coffee-colored

skin had a slight sheen as if it had been oiled. Her shoes

were extraordinary, like works of art; fawn-colored, open-

toed lace-up ankle boots with heels like ice picks.

“Jimmy Choo,” she said reading my mind. “Divine, aren’t

they? Jake has them special y made for me every season.”

There was a look in her smoldering eyes I was familiar

with. I’d seen girls give it to one another at school when they

wanted to issue a clear warning that said, “Hands off!” Asia

didn’t need to say anything to me; her look spoke volumes.

As Jake’s lover she was sending me a clear message that

said he was off-limits to me if I valued my life. In order to

make the status of her relationship patently clear, Asia

slithered around Jake like an asp at his throat, rubbing up

and pressing her bare flesh against him. Jake’s hand

traveled up her polished thigh, but in his eyes I was sure I

could see boredom. Asia surveyed me from head to foot,

decidedly unimpressed. “So, this is the little bitch

everyone’s talking about?
Small,
isn’t she?” Jake made a

clicking sound with his tongue.

“Asia—play nice.”

“I can’t see what al the fuss is about,” she said, circling

me now with a panther-like grace. “If you ask me, baby, I

think you’re downgradin’.”

“Wel , nobody asked you.” Jake gave her a warning look.

“And we talked about this; Beth is
special
.”

“Are you saying I’m not?” Asia put her hands on her hips

and arched her eyebrows flirtatiously.

“Oh, no, you’re very special,” Jake chuckled. “But in a

different way. Don’t think your talents haven’t been

appreciated.”

“So what’s with the Mary Sue outfit?” Asia asked,

plucking at the fril y sleeve of my dress. “You got some

fetish for Southern bel es? It’s very pure. That’s what this is

al about, right? But did you real y have to dress her like

she’s twelve?”

“No one dressed me,” I snapped.

“Oh, how cute!” Asia threw me a scathing look. “It talks.”

“I was just explaining to our guest how things work down

here,” Jake said, steering the conversation in a safer

direction. “I was trying to explain to her how life and death

have no meaning here. Would you mind assisting me in a

brief demonstration?”

“With pleasure,” Asia agreed. She came to stand right in

front of him and threw back her head, seductively sliding off

her halter top until she stood only in a black bra, revealing

the smooth milk chocolate skin of her torso. Jake’s eyes

traveled appreciatively over her body for a moment, before

he spun around and seized a fire poker from its hook

beside the grate. I realized his intention too late and the

scream caught in my throat as he plunged the thick tip into

her chest. I expected howls of pain or spurting blood,

anything but what I saw. Asia only gasped then shuddered

with pleasure and closed her eyes in ecstasy. When she

opened them and caught sight of my horror-stricken face

she dissolved into laughter. The poker was buried inches

deep in her chest without the slightest hint of a wound of

any kind. It looked as if it had molded to her body, as if it

had always been a part of her. When she grasped it with

both hands and wrenched it free of her flesh, it made a

gruesome sucking sound. Seconds later the smooth skin

closed over the puncture the poker had created.

“See?” Asia said. “The Grim Reaper can’t touch us. He

works for us.”

“But I’m not dead,” I blurted, unthinking.

Asia snatched up the poker from the floor where she’d

tossed it. “Why don’t we test that out?” she hissed. She

sprang at me with animal speed, but Jake was faster and

intercepted her, whipping the weapon from her tight grasp.

He threw her onto the couch and crouched over her, the tip

of the poker pressed menacingly against her throat. Asia

eye’s flashed with excitement. She bared and gnashed her

teeth as she ran her hands along his hips.

“Bethany is not a toy,” Jake said, as if he were scolding a

naughty child. “Try to think of her as your baby sister.” Asia

held her hands palm up in defeat but couldn’t repress her

expression of deep disappointment.

“You used to be so much fun.”

“Ignore her.” Jake looked at me. “She’l get used to you in

time.”

That’s if I survive
, I thought bitterly. “It doesn’t make

sense,” I said. “How can you torture souls when they can’t

feel pain?”

“I never said
they
couldn’t feel pain,” Jake explained.

“Only the demons are immune. The souls, on the other

hand, feel everything acutely. The beauty of Hades is that

you keep regenerating only to go through it al again.”

“The torture cycle’s set on repeat,” Asia said with a

crazed look. “We can hack ‘em up and by sundown they’l

be whole again. The poor suckers look so relieved to know

they’re close to the end. You should see their faces when

they wake up without a scratch and it starts al over again.”

My face must have reflected the light-headedness I

suddenly felt. I sank down into a chair, resting heavily on my

elbow. Jake brushed Asia’s wandering hands from his

chest and came over to me. He lifted my chin with an icy

finger.

“Tel me what’s wrong,” he said in a voice surprisingly

devoid of sarcasm.

“I don’t feel wel ,” I said flatly.

“Poor baby’s sick,” Asia crooned.

“What can I do?” Jake asked.

My gaze wandered inadvertently to Asia. I knew it wasn’t

wise to make an enemy out of her, but her very presence

was making me feel unwel . Jake looked at her flippantly

over his shoulder. “Get out,” he commanded without a

second’s hesitation.

“What?” She sounded genuinely surprised and even

unsure of who he was addressing for a moment.

“NOW!”

Asia had clearly never been in a position in which she

wasn’t Jake’s favorite and she didn’t like it. She threw me

one final venomous look before storming off. I breathed

easier with her gone. The malice she projected was

debilitating, as if she were feeding off my very life source.

“Tucker, pour us a drink,” Jake ordered. Tucker sprang to

life, moving to the dresser to pour whiskey from a crystal

decanter into a tumbler. He handed it to Jake with an

expression that suggested a mixture of fear and loathing.

Jake held out the glass to me.

“Drink this.”

I took some tentative sips of the warm, glowing liquid and

felt surprisingly better. It burned inside me, but somehow

the burn had a numbing effect.

“You need to keep your strength up,” Jake said, putting

an arm casual y around me. Instantaneously I shook myself

free. “You don’t always have to be so defensive.” He swung

himself playful y around a bedpost and slid in beside me so

deftly I barely had time to react. Although fil ed with a

strange darkness, Jake’s face was beautiful in the fading

light. His lips parted in a slow smile and I could hear him

breathing fast. His black eyes traveled unhurriedly over my

face. He always had a way of making me feel exposed and

vulnerable.

“You must make an effort to be happy,” he murmured,

trailing a finger along the inside of my arm.

“How can I try when I’m more miserable than I’ve ever